As much as I love the Merlot GMTO EC's I guess I should've ordered them wider.. I'm a size 9D in the 5-last so I ordered the same without doing too much research. They fit a lot tighter at the forefoot. I'm guessing a 9E would've been perfect.
If anyone's interested lmk. Never laced, never worn.

I have an Original Briefcase (70256) in tan and Twill & Tweed Original (70066) in navy. The navy material is is definitely floppier compared to the tan. I wish the navy had a more rigid feel like the tan but oh well.

My "break-in" period wasn't that bad at all. I decided to break-in my brand new IR during a 2-week vacation in Vancouver, BC and Seattle, WA. The IR's were the only shoes I brought along with some running shoes. I feared that the IR's might wreck my feet and I would resort to wearing my tennies the whole trip; but that wasn't the case. We did a lot of urban hiking in those two weeks. My feet were a little sore the first few days but nothing serious. I did go 1/2 size down...

Nope, I emailed Red Wing and they said they cannot do special order/custom size EE width beckmans. Sucks because I have Iron Rangers in 8.5 EE and they fit spot on. I would gladly pay full retail for 8.5 EE black cherry beckmans.

Sadly, yes and yes. I got a pair of black cherry Beckmans two years ago in size 9.5 to accommodate the the width of my feet. Mind you my feet aren't that wide but definitely on the wider side of normal; and the Beckmans do run long and slim naturally. I consider them broken in but they're still not as comfortable as I'd like. Last year I bought a pair of Iron Rangers in size 8.5 EE and the fit is spot on. According to RW the Beckmans and Iron Rangers are built on the...